Transformational and Calligraphy Yoga Retreat – Sept 2015

Join us for a deep exploration through Transformational and Calligraphy Yoga and Softening and Healing workshops on the beautiful Greek island of Kea. Our healing, rejuvenating and compassionate approach begins with you. Whether you’re wanting to take a break from the city, learn a new style of yoga or are simply wanting to deepen your understanding of yourself, this retreat is for you! Explore through self-practice and study, observe your physical, emotional, mental and psychic bodies. Feel yourself becoming more joyful, loving, focused and present in your life and relationships. All welcome, from absolute beginner to yoga master.

Kea, an island with rich history and relaxing beaches, has lovely seaside villages, a picturesque capital and crystal beach waters combined with an earthy colours wild, mountainous landscape. It is there where we will wait for you, for the Transformational and Calligraphy Yoga retreat.

We will stay at the Eagle’s Nest, a beautiful house and gardens that overlook the monastery with a majestic backdrop view of the deep blue Aegean sea. The summer house is situated above one of the main landmarks of Kea, the traditional monastery of Kastriani. It is located between two bays with the attractive beaches of Spathi and Otzias. The estate it is built on extends 4000 sqm with beautiful gardens that overlook the monastery with a majestic backdrop view of the deep blue Aegean sea. In the garden there is a 60 sqm yoga wooden yoga deck in an ideal surrounding for exercise, relaxation and meditation. Silvia who owns the house will prepare delicious vegetarian meals for us each day.

Meditating on unique beaches, walking on the ancient paths of the island, combining thus the natural beauty of the mainland along with infinite blue of the Aegean sea, along with the wonderful food, this long weekend will definitely make you feel the frequencies of bliss and deep relaxation in all your bodies (physical, emotional, mental and spiritual). This environment, combined with workshops, yoga, healing treatments, will help you to lower your tension and stress. You will experience a deep relaxation, which will lead you back to your own energy, making you feel inner peace and increased vitality.

A 4 day retreat, arriving on Friday 25th, departing Tuesday 29th September, celebrating the Full Moon on Monday 28th September. Each day will consist of a flowing rhythm including:
Deep exploration through Transformational and Calligraphy Yoga
Pranayama, mantra and meditation sessions
Delicious locally sourced vegetarian meals
Time and space for reading and walks in nature
Individual and group sharing
Transforming and moving energy meditations
Breath work, sound therapy, healing, connecting with self and collective consciousness

Transformational Yoga is a heart-opening yoga practice combining physical postures (asanas), breathing exercises (pranayama), mantra (dhyana) and deep relaxation, helping to release any blocks and re-connect with your free and unfettered essential nature. This multidimensional approach to Yoga has been inspired by Sri Aurobindo and the Mother in helping us to release knots in our physical bodies, our emotions and our mind, thus increasing our spiritual wellbeing. Transformational Yoga is a truly integral yoga system and goes far beyond physical exercise. It synthesises Yogic techniques to bring about rapid transformation and stimulate kundalini energy to move up through the chakras, purifying and awakening the pure body. “Transformational Yoga is a means to relax, clean and awaken all seven Chakras through Yogasana, Pranayama and Mantra.” – Swami Vidyanand, founder of the Transformational Yoga system. Find out more about Transformational Yoga: https://srimatransformationalyoga.com/

Calligraphy Yoga combines the principles of Tai Chi, Qi Gong and Indian yoga to create a flowing practice of 3-dimensional unbroken movements. It works heavily on freeing up the spine, joints, meridians and energy centres within the body, thus promoting blood, mental/nervous and digestive circulation and the cultivation of energy (Qi). All Calligraphy Yoga movements originate from and are powered by the practitioner’s energy centre; the Dan Tian. This connection links all the movements in the practice, creating awareness, promoting circulation and cultivation of a continuous flow of Qi. The practice brings the body into balance, creating a deep feeling of peace and happiness within. The practice is simultaneously strengthening, grounding and relaxing. Each movement is performed without tension or strain, within comfortable limits of each individual. This makes it accessible to people of all ages, fitness levels, flexibility and health. Moving naturally without the need to assume a certain shape or posture makes movements enjoyable while stimulating the natural healing process. This approach helps us regain our bodies by reversing the ageing process back towards a more supple, agile and elastic body, or a “baby body” as Master Zhen Hua Yang, who developed the Calligraphy Yoga system, calls it. Find out more about Master Yang and Calligraphy Yoga: https://masteryang.com.au/about-master-zhen-hua-yang/

Softening and Healing: Transforming and moving energy meditations:
DAY 1: Grounding. The circle of vital energy.
The goal is not to leave your body and transcend the physical; the goal-is to transcend your belief in and fear of the limitations of the physical plane. You accomplish this by spiritually descending into matter fully for the purpose of clearing lower-frequency energies such as repressed emotions, belief systems, judgments, control, and other contracted energies that are the source of limitation in the third dimension.Grounding will not solve all your problems or take away every unpleasant emotional state, but it can help you get through them more quickly and easily.
A lot of spiritual people who meditate regularly, as well as others who have not developed much awareness yet, have not learned grounding and may tend to “hang out” in the ethers above the body.
Essentially, being grounded means being in your body,conscious of your surroundings, and present and available for whatever happens.
Grounding. The circle of vital energy.
Part I: Connect and discharge phase. Breathing, establishing the grounding cord, cantering, colours synchronisation.
DAY 2: Grounding. The circle of vital energy.
Part II: Balancing the downward and upward flows of energy. Opening and unblocking the way for cosmic energies and life force to flow freely into and through your body’s central pathways.
DAY 3: Sound healing treatment.
Sound Therapy focuses on restoring the correct resonant frequency to the part of the body that is vibrating out of harmony with the rest of the body. There are many different frequencies throughout our body that allows it to be in a constant state of vibration. Sound frequencies affect everything, including the ability to rearrange the molecules of our cellular structure.
By creating sound and vibration through the use of tuning forks, Tibetan bowls and all the other instruments, one is able to change the inner tuning of the nervous system. The resonance creates a vortex of sound that leads us into a point of stillness. Stillness is a moment when we can retune ourselves and shift our frequencies to produce a healthier and calmer state of being.
DAY 4: Setting boundaries. Healing your aura.
Why waste your meditation time, and life in general, processing and clearing what does not even belong to you? Using boundary tools is an example of grace in action.
A contracted aura tends to make a person feel more uptight, fearful, and separate. This type of aura can also be caused by those types of feelings. An overextended aura can result in spaciness, escapism, and the tendency to feel and take on everyone else’s emotions, thoughts, and even pain in the entire area your aura covers. An overextended aura can also be the result of these same feelings and situations that it tends to cause. In other words, the cause of unhealthy aura conditions also tends to regenerate more of the same conditions that caused them.
The techniques are intended to help you learn healthy boundaries and discriminately choose what you allow into your body and auric field.
During the day you may book private healing treatments with sounds and healing touch.

The island of Kea is a hiker’s paradise with numbered routes that traverse the entire island and a variety of landscapes. On any hike you can experience several different micro-climates. The island is greener than most of the other Cycladic chain of islands that it belongs to, with thousands of oak and almond trees. There are many remote and relaxed beaches with crystal blue seas

Katy Robinson (Krsnakali) is a yoga and meditation master, and a co-director of the SriMa International School of Transformational Yoga. She has been practising yoga since 1999, leading her into deeper studies with different forms of yoga including Transformational, Sivananda and Yoga for Anxiety and Depression. “Connecting body, breath, heart, mind and soul has brought an awareness and inner stillness I didn’t believe was possible before. I love being in this space of teacher and eternal student, and hope we can share the magic of yoga too. Close your eyes, breathe and become present to your intention.” Katy is also currently training in tantra massage and loves exploring and getting round London on her bike.

Celia Marlowe has been practising different forms of yoga for over 10 years.Whilst qualifying as a Hatha Yoga teacher in Costa Rica, she was introduced to the Calligraphy form and went on to train with its creator, Master Zhen Hua Yang. Always having had a passion for movement and healing practices, she has also studied Shiatsu and remedial sports therapy – along with equine behaviour and massage. Celia offers a down to earth yet intuitive approach to supporting people on their life journeys. “Master Yang talks about making your individual cells happy. Having experienced many different types of yoga, Calligraphy is the one that invariably leaves me feeling better than I started – and with practise it is true – your cells start to dance!”

Dana and Dimitri are healers, public speakers, artists and founders of Softening and Healing. They are organising seminars and workshops regarding meditation, breathing, mindfulness, dealing with emotions, energetic and grounding techniques, meditation for children, repatterning techniques, combining occasionally therapeutic horses and healing sounds. In addition they give private sessions for inner development, by guiding people to understand the beliefs, ideas and emotions that block them. Executives from Nestle Multinational Co., the Goulandris Natural History Museum, students from the American College of Greece, kids from kidded gardens, students from schools, artists and physiologies are some of the participants in their workshops. Since music and healing sounds are very important to them in order to create a soothing environment for the participants, in their workshops they are using a variety of instruments such as Tibetan bowls, Native American flute and drum, the Indian tampura, human overtones, chimes, and more. “Thank you both you cannot even imagine what you offer to people’s souls…”

Cost:
440 Euros per person 2 sharing
540 Euros per person private room
Price based on a minimum 5 attendees. We keep our group size to maximum 10 attendees. Price per person will be reduced once more than 6 participants join.
** Don’t let financial difficulties be a barrier to you coming to this retreat – please contact Katy to discuss your situation: +44(0)7748849829 – srima.katy@gmail.com **

Included:
3 delicious vegetarian meals per day, accommodation in a beautiful villa, 3 yoga sessions per day and 1 meditation session per day.

Not included:
Softening and healing workshops (1 per day) – you can book these directly at the retreat for 20 Euros per workshop.
You can book low cost flights to Athens with Ryanair and other airlines, then take the 1 hour ferry to Kea which costs 12 Euros.https://www.openseas.gr/en/index.html